Preview

What Does The Color Blue Represent In The Great Gatsby

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
909 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Does The Color Blue Represent In The Great Gatsby
In the novel, The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby are neighbors. Daisy, who is Nick's cousin is married to Tom Buchanan who is also having an affair with Myrtle. Myrtle is married to a guy named Wilson and they live in the Valley of Ashes. Gatsby however used to be with Daisy when they were younger and is still in love with her now. Nick, Daisy, Jay and Tom all live in the richer area of New York. Throughout the novel a lot of drama goes down between all characters and in the end both Myrtle and Gatsby end up dead. Many authors use objects or characters to portray a message or symbol. However F. Scott Fitzgerald decided to use colors to portray the messages instead. While reading the novel many themes, messages and symbols were shown, but it was clear that the symbol of wealth was the most significant. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the colors blue, yellow, and green repeatedly come up as symbols of wealth through either the color of a car, TJ Eckleburg's eyes on the billboard, or the green light. However, all 3 colors symbolize wealth in some way. First off, the color blue is shown throughout the novel in multiple ways. However, the two most substantial examples of the color blue are the eyes of TJ Eckleburg on the billboard and Tom Buchanan's car. One day …show more content…
Scott Fitzgerald, the colors blue, yellow, and green repeatedly come up as symbols of wealth through either the color of a car, TJ Eckleburg's eyes on the billboard, or the green light. In conclusion, the colors blue, yellow, and green symbolize wealth in some way. In the novel many colors are used to portray a message. These three colors however are the 3 most significant colors. Although the other colors also send a specific message, wealth is the most meaningful of them all. After hearing this, how could one say that the colors blue, yellow and green did not symbolize wealth during the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Scott Fitzgerald. For instance, the color green comes up frequently in the story. Green can be used to depict money, hope, and fertility. Some people use the color green to say that someone has some level of self-respect and well-being. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses green a lot in the money side of the color. Green could also mean learning, growth and harmony, which you see some of is The Great Gatsby. The color green is also described as the color of balance, and is designated as the safe color. The characters that the color green represent the best are Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, and Tom Buchanan. Fitzgerald uses the color green to describe Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, and Tom…

    • 908 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Colors are a major part of novels because the imagery gives the reader something to a picture and focus on the book/novel’s special details. Fitzgerald uses colors to describe feelings & emotions about someone or something. Fitzgerald’s use of the colors red, grey, and green help the readers to experience the book in a more visual way. Fitzgerald uses the color red to describe the gas-pumps outside of wilson’s garage,on the novel The Great Gatsby to foreshadow death. ”Already it was deep summer on roadhouse roofs and in front of the wayside garages, where new red gas-pumps sat out in the pools of light”(20).…

    • 374 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Colors are a powerful form of communication used to convey what words cannot. Fitzgerald’s use of symbolism in the form of color is on display in nearly every chapter of The Great Gatsby. To understand his use of color as a symbol, a reader must recognize the situations in which they are used. Fitzgerald applies colors to his characters to hint at their personalities. The colors are intentionally repeated multiple times to establish a significance between them and the characters personality they are used to symbolize. Therefore, to understand each character entirely, colors must be considered. Throughout The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald uses color symbolism to show how people mask their personalities to hide from the truth which results in negative…

    • 123 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In conclusion, the colors green and white are both competent and symbolic colors of the novel The Great Gatsby. White representing innocence corruption and fakeness, of both men and women. While on the other hand the color green is used as a symbol for having hope, luck, and fortune. Those two colors go hand in hand with characterizing the men, like Mr.Gatsby as well as the women like Mrs.Buchanan (Daisy) in the novel. They depict on what we know about their past, present, and their future goals. They also influence the start of a person's new beginning for one day having the “American Dream.” Which answers the question, “Who really are we?” By saying we are what society makes us thrive for, and what we think is correct. The internal and…

    • 148 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Green is representative of the power that Gatsby has with his wealth. An example of this is when he is throwing his clothes around the room. One of the shirts is described as “apple-green” (Fitzgerald 99). This represents his money because he uses the shirts to showcase his wealth and try to win over Daisy. Another place where Gatsby’s tries to use his wealth to show off it with his car. “He felt the hot, green leather of the seats (Fitzgerald 128).” This quote shows the wealth of his car and how he tries to use it in order to show off to Daisy by suggesting that he, Nick, Tom, and Daisy all take his car to get into town. Green is also used to show Gatsby’s corruptness and deceitfulness. When Michaelis described the car that hit Myrtle to the police officer he said it was light-green when its actual color was yellow (Fitzgerald 147). This represents corruptness because Gatsby allows Daisy to speed off in his car after she just ran over Myrtle Wilson. The last example of green being a corrupt color is the green light Gatsby saw at the end of Daisy’s dock (Fitzgerald LAST). The corruptness in this example is shown because it wraps up all the bad relationships in the end of the book with all the characters, and how Gatsby never would end up being with Daisy, the girl of his dreams. This connection between Gatsby and Daisy was depicted in great detail throughout the…

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The most used color of the whole novel is green. Green symbolizes money. In the story money is the center of the characters’ lives. Gatsby thinks that having a lot of money will win over Daisy. Which he later finds out is not the case. Green in the novel is used to describe new money, the money Gatsby has. Symbols of Gatsby’s money include “his large green lawn and the green ivy growing up his house”. Another possible meaning of green is envy. Gatsby is an envious character. The love of his life, Daisy, married another man for money. He spends every second trying to win her back. Leading one to believe Gatsby is “green with envy”…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Blue is a color that can be associated in a many ways and is symbolic throughout the novel. Lonely, illusions, fantasy are three words that are exemplify themes within this color. Jay Gatsby’s illusions throughout the novel are evident, he is chasing relationship that is not meant to be with the wealthy Daisy. Upon the realization that Daisy had married Tom Buchanan, Gatsby took it upon himself to change significantly. The change is influenced by a man named Dan Cody, the transformation occurs at sea and Gatsby is given a blue coat by Mr. Cody. ‘’"A few days later [Dan Cody]took him to Duluth and bought him a coat, six pair of white duck trousers and a yachting cap." (Fitzgerald 100) Gatsby is now obsessed with the wealth and lifestyle that…

    • 461 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "A symbol, in the broad sense, is an image, an incident, or an item in a work that takes on a significance other than its evident objective meaning" (Lathbury 171). Symbolism assists a reader in understanding the true meaning of an object or event. It makes it easier for the author to create a tone that is easy to understand. Color is the clearest form of symbolism. Specific colors represent specific emotions or feelings. For example, red would show anger or violence whereas yellow would represent happiness. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, color symbolized joy, hopefulness and wealth that overshadows the hardships of life.…

    • 1495 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As the previous colors were identified as fantasy and anger the yellow to the same extent yellow be acknowledged as fake money. Gatsby would be categorized under fake money because he has newly obtained money and his inability to enter the high class society of New York. “It was a yellow car… big yellow car. New.” (Fitzgerald 141). Another example would be T.J Eckleburg’s glasses, which were a color yellow, in this situation it symbolized that god is looking over the wasteland of America. I think Fitzgerald was trying to say how we don’t make American to our usage were making it a wasteful…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Symbolism, the appropriation of an object or word to represent an abstract idea of quality, is used in literature in order to communicate a deeper meaning and facilitate weaving the thematic intricacies of the plot with one another. In the highly acclaimed novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, symbols are mentioned frequently to provide insight, such as the omniscient eyes of Dr. TJ Eckleberg, the mysterious Valley of Ashes, and the glowing green light Gatsby finds himself mesmerized with. The green light Gatsby reaches out for at the end of Daisy's east egg dock represents his hopes and dreams, and is symbolic of Daisy as his ultimate key to success, not only romantically, but monetarily and socially, exemplifying…

    • 1393 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Scott Fitzgerald is an excellent writer who uses color in the most creative way. Green; life, vitality, the future, and envy. Grey; lifelessness. White; innocence. Yellow/Gold/Silver; wealth. As for what is next for the characters, Gatsby, George, and myrtle are dead, Tom and Daisy fled back to west, and Nick is left pondering life and every decision that has lead him to that moment. At the end of it all Gatsby’s legacy was nothing more than a memory. He threw the best parties, did anything for the love of his life, yet went from a nobody, to becoming someone, back into a nobody, that everyone had forgotten and could care less about. Gatsby worked so hard to become someone Daisy could love and be with, but along the way he made some wrong decisions that left him with no one to even attend his funeral. Fitzgerald was setting a moral in The Great Gatsby, that no matter what we do, we will never be content, and life goes on, “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” (Fitzgerald…

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Colors segregate themselves from each other. For example, the color white is defined as fair and clean, while the color black is defined as dark and fear. Thus, black will always be black and white will always be white. There are a plethora of references to colors in the novel The Great Gatsby written by Scott Fitzgerald. Colors are used everywhere in this novel to describe individuals and their appearance. If examined closely, it is clear that certain colors pertain to certain individuals. Scott Fitzgerald is implying that colors can represent a person and their intentions. In the novel, Scott Fitzgerald uses colors to explain important themes.…

    • 868 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gold In The Great Gatsby

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the novel, the color green is associated with Gatsby many times whether it be related to his envy, his money, or his thoughts. Gatsby is filled with jealousy when he is unable to attain Daisy since she already belongs to another man, Tom. Green also represents the power and influence of money, which Gatsby has plenty of. Later in the novel, Michaelis, the witness of the car accident that killed Myrtle, “wasn’t even sure of [the death car’s] color – [but] he told the first policeman that it was light green” (Fitzgerald 137). The green light at the end of Daisy’s dock is a significant symbol within the novel. To Gatsby, the green light represents his dream, which is Daisy. Nick first saw Gatsby out on the deck and witnessed Gatsby as “he…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses color as a symbol throughout the novel. Colors can be used as foreshadowing in stories, commonly used to depict feelings of a character. These colors are used to create several settings throughout the book, along with several moods and are most definitely significant throughout the entire novel. Firstly, the discussion of the color gold and how it exemplifies wealth, happiness, and the attractive odds of attaining success will take place. Secondly, the color white will be discussed, pertaining how it describes perfection along with the value of honor. Lastly, the color green will be discussed, pertaining how the color depicts a better time along with the value of hope. Thus, because of the usage of the colors in the novel; gold, white, and green exemplify certain themes, moods, and symbols throughout the novel.…

    • 627 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the immediate context of the story Fitzgerald uses color and objects to show the corruption of society and unattainable dreams. For example Fitzgerald describes Tom and Daisy’s house as “red and white.” This symbolizes Daisy’s innocence and Tom’s corruption and sin. This also symbolizes the innocence and sinful intertwined within each other. Later the author describes Gatsby reaching toward the “green light.” The green light symbolizes the American Dream. Also, this shows that no matter how hard he reaches Gatsby can never truly fulfill his dream.…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays